WORLD

Paris, France | AFP | Some 28.4 million planned surgeries could be cancelled or postponed globally due to the new coronavirus pandemic, according to new research warning that huge backlogs risk “potentially devastating” consequences for patients and health systems. The study, published this week in the British Journal of Surgery, modelled …

Darova, Romania | AFP |  Maria Avadanei is exhilarated: after receiving a tablet as a donation, she can finally take her online lessons. “I was afraid of failing my classes,” says the 15-year-old from Darova, a rural commune in Transylvania in western Romania. Avadanei is among hundreds of thousands at increased …

New York, United States | AFP |  New York City shows no sign of easing a two-month lockdown, even as a statewide stay-at-home order ends Friday, leaving America’s cultural and commercial capital wondering what its future holds. While many European cities begin the process of reviving their economies, the Big Apple …

  Washington, United States | AFP | A coalition of consumer groups filed a complaint Thursday with US regulators claiming the popular video app TikTok has failed to live up to an agreement last year limiting data collection from children. The 20 organizations said in a Federal Trade Commission complaint that …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump said Thursday he is no mood to speak with China’s Xi Jinping, warning darkly he might cut off ties with the rival superpower over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. “I have a very good relationship, but I just — right now I don’t want …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus cases but has registered 10 times fewer deaths than Britain, France, Italy and Spain. So many are wondering: why is the country’s mortality rate so low? Critics have accused Russian authorities of under-counting the number of deaths to …

The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | A vaccine for the novel coronavirus could be ready in a year’s time under an “optimistic” scenario, based on trials that are underway, the European Medicines Agency said Thursday. The Amsterdam-based EU agency also played down fears expressed by the WHO that the virus might …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  For years, the Ronda della Solidarieta (Solidarity Patrol) charity has served up free dinners twice a week for Rome’s needy, passed out at twilight in the shadow of the city’s ancient ruins. But as Italy begins to feel the effects of its most punishing economic crisis …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Chinese hackers are trying to steal COVID-19 vaccine research, US authorities said Wednesday, ratcheting up tensions between the superpowers as markets slumped on warnings from the US Federal Reserve that prolonged shutdowns could cause “lasting damage.” Europe, meanwhile, pushed ahead with plans to gradually reopen …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The new coronavirus may never go away and populations around the world will have to learn to live with it, the World Health Organization warned Wednesday. As some countries around the world begin gradually easing lockdown restrictions imposed in a bid to stop the novel coronavirus …